At a press-packed, early morning event, Google launched its long anticipated health initiative, Google Health today.
The company's closest friends were there -- including Dean Ornish, a hot-shot health guru and UCSF professor; and the room was full of reps from Google partners, including Long's Drugs, Walgreens, and the Cleveland Clinic.
Conspicuously missing from the event? Insurance providers. Not one, despite Google VP Marissa Mayer's promise that there will be "thousands" of partners to come.
"We haven't explored [insurer partnerships] to date because we understand that it's very sensitive for consumers," Mayer said.
It's a prudent decision given the amount of concern surrounding Google Health. The service, which has been under development for more than two years, is meant to serve as a central, digital depository for medical records and health information. Users can import medical records and create a profile (including allergies, immunizations, medications, etc.), which are stored in a database, and available to users' individual doctors. Eventually, people may be able to upload data from other electronic devices -- including their shoes or their pedometers -- in order to track personal health progress.
Read more: wired.com
Labels: Google Health, health, medical, medicine
